Grandbaby’s Age of Exploration
Now Grandbaby crawls and pulls to standing, and her Age of Exploration begins!
“Begins” isn’t quite accurate: Babies explore in other ways before they are mobile. But once so much more is in reach, they are unleashed to follow their own curiosity. Which of course they do constantly and with no common sense about hazards until they are close to 3 (or 21?).
It’s a watershed in caregiving, too. Caregivers need to keep Baby safe and keep up with them. The effort can be taxing even for young parents, not to mention for us staid elders. I love this stage, though, because Grandbaby’s burgeoning curiosity, discovery, and playfulness are such a joyous thing to watch and participate in. So right after I dive to keep Grandbaby from chewing on an electrical cord, I remember how empowering (ha) it is for her to reach and grab that cord and feel grateful to facilitate.
That said, one important and obviously sensible thing, once Grandbaby is close to crawling, is to babyproof your space. A non-exhaustive reminder of basics:
• Get electric cords out of reach.
• Plug sockets with outlet covers.
• Put away anything you’d be upset about Grandbaby breaking.
• Cushion sharp edges of coffee tables, etc., or move the furniture elsewhere.
• Lock up toxins (like under the sink) and medicines, or get them way out of reach (remember that Baby will surprise you—sooner than you might think, they’ll climb shelving, countertops, tables…).
• Put gates on stairs or always close the door.
Look your space over for less common hazards, too. A few years ago, we replaced a glass coffee-table top with plexiglass and haven’t gone back. Maybe someday! I put away my favorite lamp, too (sigh). And we need to temporarily stash our tippy floor lamps. Doing all this is a pain and creates its own difficulties—in our case, a dark living room. But it’s worth it to be more relaxed with Grandbaby crawling about.
That said, “relaxed” is relative, because she’ll figure out how to get in trouble anyway. Vigilance rather than hypervigilance? Something like that!
It’s also useful to have somewhere Grandbaby can be safe for *very* short periods (like one minute) on their own: a carefully placed playpen or high chair for when you need to run to the bathroom, for example.
As with my care of older kids, however, my go-to solution to the problem of house destruction, house hazards, and cabin fever is to get outside. Babies can get in trouble outside, too, so caution is needed. But there is more space, lots of variety, and she won’t break your stuff. A local park with equipment geared to the little ones lets Grandbaby explore her body’s new abilities and the world (relatively) safely. Crawling in the grass to find dandelions or clover—plus wonderful mud—is another delight. Taking a baby to a pool requires more planning (more on that in an upcoming post), but so wonderfulfor discovery and fun. And if it’s raining…absent a thunderstorm or frigid downpour, one could go out anyway, but with a baby I’m more likely to look for an indoor out-of-the-house solution. In our area, many places accessible by car or bus have free or low-cost indoor spaces for play. Check with libraries, museums, park buildings, coffee shops, restaurants, and shopping centers to locate possibilities in your area. Many of these locations have the plus that Grandbaby will get to interact with or observe other children, too, and you with other adults.
Above all, do your best to enjoy this fleeting stage. At the very least, it makes naptime (Baby’s and yours!) all the sweeter.